Have you ever wondered if you are sleeping too much? That you feel like you could sleep until midday if your alarm clock didn’t go off? Or sometimes you sleep for a long time and get no rest at all, and your head starts to hurt?  Sleeping too much sometimes seems to have a negative effect, but to what extent does it have a negative effect?  This blog will answer these questions and show you if you are sleeping too much if it’s unhealthy for you, and if sleeping too much can have other consequences!

How Much Is Too Much?

If you structurally need more than nine hours of sleep, but you feel tired, irritable, and lifeless every day, there is a good chance that something is going on. If you sleep too long, it’s still difficult for you to function efficiently. So, you feel that you need more than about 10 hours. If this is the case, it is wise to consult your doctor, and they will be able to give you personal advice and diagnose what is going on.

What Are the Causes of Oversleeping?

If you are structurally sleeping too long, for example, taking a long nap every day, you may have hypersomnia. The cause of this disease is still unknown, and that makes it more difficult to combat. Sleeping too much does not necessarily mean you have hypersomnia, but it is never a bad idea to seek medical advice.

The causes of oversleeping are complex, but in some cases, it is not necessary. Do you suffer from sleep apnea or depression? This could be a cause of oversleeping. Also, medical conditions that demand a lot from you can have a negative impact not only on your body but also on your medication, for example. All of this can lead to more sleep and eventually more sleep than is recommended!

Is Too Much Sleep Unhealthy?

Too much sleep can undoubtedly harm your health. Several studies show what happens to your body when you sleep too much. Here is a brief description of some of the interesting findings.

Effects on Cognitive Ability

Cognitive ability, simply put, is the ability to process information in the brain. One conclusion relevant to this blog was drawn from a database of thousands of people, in which people were subjected to a variety of cognitive tests. The researchers concluded that people who got seven hours of sleep did the best on the tests, and the more they slept, the worse their test results were. Therefore, sleeping too long may lead to cognitive decline.

Possible Increased Risk of Dementia

A study conducted in Spain in 2009 looked at 3,286 subjects to see if the amount of time they slept at night affected the development of dementia. The researchers concluded that sleeping too many hours may increase the risk of dementia.

Excessive Sleep and Headaches

If you sleep a lot but wake up with a headache, your sleep quality may be too poor. Do you often suffer from headaches and think it is due to lack of sleep? Make an appointment with your doctor and explain your problem to him/her well. There may be a link between sleep and headaches, but there could also be another cause.

Oversleeping

Memory Loss in People Over 50 Years Old

A study conducted in China in 2011 looked at the impact of short and long sleep duration on memory loss in the elderly. The subjects ranged in age from 50 to 85 years old, and the study concluded that either too little or too much sleep could lead to memory loss. Now, you may not be over 50 years old, but maybe you are. Therefore, it is possible that if you chronically sleep too much, you are more likely to experience memory loss than if you sleep only 7-9 hours.

Depression

Some people find that they suffer from depressive symptoms when they sleep too much. This is supported by a 2014 study that looked at the effect of sleep duration on the development of depression and anxiety disorders. A total of 1,069 people were tested and then tested again two years later.

The bottom line is that sleeping too much may be associated with the persistence of both depression and anxiety disorders. So, to answer the question, “Does too much sleep cause depression?” There’s definitely a chance!

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